Y Dydd Olaf (The Last Day), an album inspired by Owain Owain’s 1976 Welsh-language dystopian science fiction novel of the same name, marks another entry in the ever-growing archives of cambrofuturism — Welsh futurism, a lens through which a disenfranchised culture can find an identity in an imagined future — and similarly draws on electronic, krautrock inspiration for that peculiar sound: think late Super Furry Animals, the Manic Street Preachers’ Futurology, and ’80s psychers Llwybr Llaethog.

Gwenno is no stranger to this territory and her airy vocals and beautiful, bold production let the imagination run wild. A blissful experience that effortlessly transcends the language barrier.

The Adelaide two-piece see url The Hard Aches bring Pheromones into the punk world with a stripped-back, barely-driven guitar and kit and a penchant for pouring their hearts into their lyrics.

If you’ve been craving gymnastic vocals scolding over drink driving; emotional hardcore based around moving out of a friend’s house because things are weird now you’ve had sex and you’re sure they’ll be happier even though your other housemates are terrible people; or just a particular young, white, urban Australian perspective, it’s a gem in a narrative begging for expansion but representing a specific and closed chapter.

Perth indie-popsters low dosage of accutane Our Man In Berlin’s second EP, Spirit Down marks a crystallisation of the group’s ethereal, reverb-driven music, demonstrating an evolution from the more stylistically scattered Is It Right? EP.

Opener Bones is a powerful introduction boasting ‘90s alt-rock guitars in a mesh of synth and falsetto, and the rest of the release largely follows suit with empty electronics and airy vocals. A solid record but with the exploratory air of a stepping stone to other directions, Our Man In Berlin are worth keeping an eye on.

This blissed-out, spacey offering from Errors adds another dimension to their solid back catalogue, spliced with their trademark pulsing, layered electronica.

There are shadows of lyricism here but with a transparency hard to pin down, phasing into hymns and chants between catchy digital melodies and beats. High gloss and harking back to ‘80s synthetic new wave, Lease Of Life blurs together into one formless entity, textured by melody and tune but otherwise difficult to discern. This obscuring holds its greatest weakness and greatest strength: Errors bend and twist, avoiding definition.

‘Errors – Lease Of Life’ by Richard Moore, first published by The Music 16.04.15

“Good riff party!” Pressing the mic close to his face, Shit Narnia frontman Hugh Manning pulled in the night: “Mad riffs, good party!” The grungey line-up of Foam’s kin picked for their EP launch and filtered through the brain-numbing bass of The Bakery fell together like riff to riff as the night grew into Foam’s set. Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: FOAM EP Launch at The Bakery, 27.03.15

Abandoning Cold War paranoia and scratched tapes for high gloss synths and high speed film, Public Service Broadcasting’s newest concept album arches smoothly between the clean, empty ambience and catchy ‘70s pop-inspired riffs and trills of Space Race nostalgia.

The elastic duo snap between bounce and slap bass and synth landscape seamlessly, all overscored with their trademark historical samples from US and USSR news coverage of shuttle launches, political conflict and internal radio broadcasts between crew and ground control. Niche in focus, but sleek in execution.

‘Public Service Broadcasting – The Race For Space’ by Richard Moore, 2015.

First published by The Music Perth Issue #74, 27 January 2015, page 20.

Perth surf-rockers Thee Gold Blooms have finally coalesced into this jangly recording like the bastard child of Ramones and The Beach Boys. Lush with melodies sabotaging sunny girl-I-love songs into screeching frustration, their self-titled album is highly strung with rough-hewn, rockabilly sensibility edged by white sand and tequila beer. Short, succinct and high-energy, they do their coast proud with this old-school offering. Stepping into faux-‘70s nostalgia, it doesn’t break for new territory but makes satisfying listening for what it is. Listen to Thee Gold Blooms’ Boogie and Alana, then put your money where your mouth is.